1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sprayers for use on row crops. More particularly, the present invention relates to self-aligning row crop spraying devices.
2. Problems in the Art
Spraying devices exist in the prior art, but contain undesired limitations. A typical prior art spraying device includes a boom assembly mounted on a mobile carrier. For each row of plants, the boom will include an arm assembly with a spray nozzle attached for directing a fluid spray toward a crop row. The nozzles will move with the boom regardless of where the plants are.
There is a need for efficient and accurate spraying devices that do not waste chemicals but at the same time sufficiently spray each plant. With the price of agricultural chemicals rising each year, along with increasing environmental concerns, it has become desired that the spray from spraying devices be accurately and precisely directed to the plants or the ground adjacent to the plants without overlapping spray patterns or without using excess chemicals, while at the same time sufficiently covering each plant. This problem is intensified by the fact that crops are typically planted with four or six row planters but are sprayed with devices which can handle perhaps 24 rows. If a crop has been planted with a four row planter, those first four rows will be in perfect alignment with each other. However, the next four rows may not be in precise alignment with the first four rows. As a result, spraying devices with fixed spray nozzles cannot be centered over each row. In addition, plants within a typical row can be misaligned or off-center by several inches. Also, when a spraying device is guided through a curve in the field, the spray nozzles may not precisely follow the row through the curve.
Some prior art attempts at solutions to this problem include using hand held sprayers. However, this has the huge disadvantages of being tedious, time consuming, requiring substantial physical labor, and their effectiveness and efficiency depends on the personal care of the operator. Other prior art solutions rely on multiple nozzle arrangements with a fixed orientation to ensure that the spray reaches each plant in rows in which misalignment of successive plants is unavoidable. This solution also is an undesirable solution because it still encounters the same problems described above.